Growing up, religion and faith were not a big part of my life. Yes, we went to church a few times. I even made my First Communion. But my parents didn’t appreciate the strict confines of their Catholic upbringings, and didn’t appreciate how judgemental they felt the church to be, so they steered clear of it for the most part.
From my vantage point, they both still sought faith. At times, they found it. I recall snippets of them teaching me about faith — mostly through stories read to me, such as “The Little Engine That Could.” My Dad and I would go on bike rides, and at the end of our street, if we took a left, there was what seemed to my 10 year old legs, quite a hill to traverse. I vividly remember Dad pedaling in front of me, looking back, and saying “I think I can, I think I can,” encouraging me to say it right along with him. I did, and lo and behold, I made it up that hill.
Interestingly, what I took from that situation, though, was that it was my action that caused me to make it up the hill, not faith. I was still surrounded by the belief that it was action that created what I lived, rather than faith that caused me to take inspired action.
Those are two very different perspectives, and I am determined to raise my boys to live in the spirit of the latter.
I have been married twice, and divorced twice. Neither marriage, neither husband, lived by faith. Action first to manipulate circumstances was the norm. It makes sense that I attracted those partners, because that is how I lived then, too. I want more for my children, but especially my boys.
I want my boys to attract partners in their lives who practice active faith. When we become committed to using active faith we have no choice but to live aligned with our true natures. Active faith requires that. We see and feel it working in some cases, and perhaps not in others — but every time it doesn’t work it’s because we have tried to force something to come to pass, rather than believing in what we truly want and allowing it to come to us.
I also want my boys to be faith-filled partners for their significant others. I want them to experience the union of two souls working in tandem, not the same, but complementary. We can have different perspectives on every subject, but if we are committed to living in faith, to believing that what we desire is already ours and the meat of life is in the journey to it, we can avoid much strife and struggle in relationships, and create a partnership that fuels our desires.
I want my boys to live by intention and purpose, rather than by default. As I teach them what I now know to be true about how creating our life experience works, I am instilling in them the understanding that their power is infinite, and it usually boils down to perspective. When it clicks for them, and they experience a realization of something once only alive in faith, their eyes fill with wonder and amazement. That’s the magic of life, right there. I want them to always have that spirit within, and I want them to share their lives with partners who have it, too. Not only will their lives continue to be enriched, but they will, almost without effort, be able to stand as examples for others.
—
If you believe in the work we are doing here at The Good Men Project, please join like-minded individuals in The Good Men Project Premium Community.
◊♦◊
◊♦◊
Get the best stories from The Good Men Project delivered straight to your inbox, here.
◊♦◊
◊♦◊
Sign up for our Writing Prompts email to receive writing inspiration in your inbox twice per week.
The Good Men Project is an Amazon.com affiliate. If you shop via THIS LINK, we will get a small commission and you will be supporting our Mission while still getting the quality products you would have purchased, anyway! Thank you for your continued support!
Photo: Getty Images